Thursday, June 6, 2013

Yet another month has flown by. What's happened since last time? Mommy's got a broken leg, we've visited Barcelona, and now we're prepping for a trip back to the US. Keila is a busy girl!

1. Keila talks. And talks. AND TALKS. She's outgrowing some of her shyness and will tell random people all about what's going on in her life. The stewardesses on our Monarch airlines flight back from Barcelona all got to hear about how Keila's little friend Sammy was coming to her house in a few days. Take the kid to Barcelona, and all she talks about is a playdate at home. =)
Keila is also repeating a lot of what we say, word for word. She's showing more interest in what Japanese words mean too, and she will ask me what I'm saying if she doesn't understand some of her Japanese books.
2. We've gotten our naps back on schedule, and sleep is going much better at night, too! I'm of course waiting for jet lag to kill any and all progress that we've made, however.
3. What has Keila been interested in this past month....well, anything on the iPad still, but she's also been liking to play doctor and also dress up as a princess or in a 'wedding gown'. The blanket on our couch is cream-colored, so it is therefore a wedding gown. And she's started doing my hair too, since the new unicorn we got her came with various hair clips and brushes.
4. Story of the month. Just a quick one....but when I asked Keila what she wanted for dessert, she yelled 'Daddy's beer!' Needless to say, she did NOT get any of that dessert! I think she was quite happy with some chocolate pudding instead, after we had a talk about how Daddy's beer is special just for him.
Yesterday was Keila's (belated) 2.5 year check. She scored well above average on everything except for the section where she's supposed to be able to climb stairs with alternating feet. Honestly, what 2.5 year-old climbs stairs like an adult already? I'm more than fine with her taking them one at a time; better safe than sorry.
5. No idea how tall Keila is still. People keep commenting that she's tall for her age, but she seems just about average to me?
It's late, so that's it for Keila's June update. Until July....

Monday, June 3, 2013

Finally getting around to our Easter holiday in Mallorca! Or Majorca, if you like.
After getting settled into our hotel, first stop was of course, lunch. We chose Forn de Sant Joan based on the fact that we stumbled across it while out for a walk, and I remembered it had high ratings online. Plus the 21 euro set lunch seemed like a great deal.
Food was great, and the service was exceptional. Even though Forn de Sant Joan is obviously a rather classy and upscale restaurant, they provided a high chair for Keila along with some crayons and paper for coloring. Our waiter and the manager both made quite a fuss over her, so it was obvious that children are welcome (at least for lunch...we did eat there again for an early dinner, but I'd feel bad taking a child in to eat during later evening hours).
Appetizers in the set lunch included a choice of creamy tomato soup with avocado mousse and herb oil; Alaskan salmon tartar with capers, coriander, lime, and mustard ice cream; or grilled vegetables with pesto and Parmesan shavings. We opted for the soup and the salmon. The soup was superb; the salmon was also quite good but the mustard ice cream was an acquired taste (I liked it, hubby didn't).
Main course options were: Grilled sea bass with a Saracen wheat risotto and zucchini with chive aioli; duck Magret with red berries and vanilla potatoes; or giant macaroni with carmelized onion, mozzarella, and truffle cream. Seeing as the last one seemed like glorified mac n' cheese, we chose the first two. I still feel bad about eating the duck, however (sea bass was out thanks to the gluten-containing wheat). Both dishes were good, but I'm not just really a fan of fowl other than chicken.
Finally, dessert! 2 choices here, so we got 1 of each: creme brulee and 'Banana connection'. I can't remember what the banana dish was, but it had gluten in it so I didn't taste any. The creme brulee was ok but again wouldn't have been my first choice since creme brulee in general is a bit boring.
Forn de Sant Joan does serve gluten-free bread if you ask, but I the service charge for it (and for any other bread they bring to your table) is 2.50 euros a person. So be sure to tell the waiter if you don't want bread before he puts it the basket down.
All in all, it was a really good lunch at a reasonable price. I'd give the restaurant 5 stars based on our lunch experience, but our return visit at dinner brought it down to a low 4.
We arrived for dinner exactly at opening time, and only then realized that the set menu was for lunch only. Our mistake, not the restaurant's, but I doubt we would have returned if we'd known, seeing as how expensive the regular options on the menu are. For starters, we had grilled octopus (14.50 euros), some kind of pork that I did not partake of (15.50 euros), grilled eel (14.50 euros), a pumpkin soup (8.50 euros for a regular-sized bowl). We shared one main of seared tuna (24.50 euros) and one dessert (7 euros), along with an order of fries for Keila (4 euros). We (and by 'we' I don't mean me) also had some beer and a glass or two of wine, along with one bottle of water for the table to share.. Bill came to 115.90 euros, and I left still hungry! We ended up eating a second dinner at our hotel because I was starving when we got back. What we ordered sounded like a lot, but the portions were miniscule.
I could handle the menu being over-priced, but our service wasn't nearly as good as it was at lunch, either. Perhaps because the restaurant was getting full, it took quite a while for a few of our dishes to arrive, and I was beginning to wonder if they'd forgotten our order. Also, when I told the waiter that I couldn't eat the bread, she didn't bother to even offer a gluten-free option that time. In her defense, maybe she was new?
In summary: go to Forn de Sant Joan for lunch. Dinner was just too little for too much money.

Forn de Sant Joan
C\Sant Joan 4
Palma de Mallorca

From the lunch menu: creamy tomato soup with avocado mousse

Alaskan salmon tartar

Quack quack!

Banana Connection for dessert

From the dinner menu. Grilled eel priced at 14 euros. Wouldn't have been a bad price except for the portion size: tiny! (Compare it to the wasabi on the plate).

Grilled octopus was delicious.

Tiny portion of seared tuna. Again, about the same portion size as the eel, for 24.50 euros.